The  Present  Status 


of  the 

Catholic  Indian  Problem 


4* — 

REV.  DR.  H.  G.  GANSS 


Publifhed  under  the  euipicct  ef  the 

HHarqupttr  Slragur 

UNITED  CHARITIES  BUILDING  , 

FOURTH  AVE.  AND  22o  STREET,  NEW  YORK  V t,: 

/f^7 


The  Present  Status 

of  the 

Catholic  Indian  Problem 


REV.  DR.  H.  G.  GANSS 


Published  under  the  auspices  of  the 

UNITED  CHARITIES  BUILDING 
FOURTH  AVE.  AND  22d  STREET,  NEW  YORK 


To  the  Rea^der 


The  following  articles  on  “ The  Present  Status  of  the 
Catholic  Indian  Problem  ” appeared  serially  in  The 
Messenger  magazine.  They  give  so  clear,  concise  and 
informing  a description  of  the  work  and  needs  of  our 
' Catholic  Indian 'missions,  that  with  the  consent  of  the 
author  and  permission  of  the  editor,  it  was  decided  to 
publish  them  in  pamphlet  form. 

Inasmuch  as  it  practically  covers  the  scope  mapped 
out  by  the  constitution  of  the  Alarquette  League,  it  was 
thought  fit  to  give  it  to  the  public  under  its  auspices. 

In  submitting  the  pamphlet  to  the  public,  the  League 
invites  its  careful  perusal,  commends  it  to  the  serious 
consideration  of  its  members,  and  indulges  the  pleasing 
hope  that  it  may  arouse  intere.st  and  enlist  material  aid 
in  coming  to  the  assistance  of  a most  worthy,  but  un- 
fortunately underestimated,  cause. 

The  conversion  of  the  American  In  ban  was  the  first 
missionary  enterjjrisc  on  our  continent ; it  should  now, 
in  view  of  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  aborigines, 
receive  our  prompt  and  generous  support. 

Eugene  A.  Philbin, 
President  of  the  Marquette  League. 


New  York,  October,  1307. 


The  Present  Status  of  the  Catholic 
Indian  Problem 


I. 

The  publication  of  the  annual  report  of  the  Catholic 
Indian  Bureau  (1)  brings  to  our  attention  the  oldest 
missionary  endeavor  of  the  Church  in  this  country.  The 
conversion  of  the  aboriginal  peoples  inhabiting  the  newly 
discovered  continent  was,  as  we  well  know,  the  leading 
motive  of  its  discovery,  just  as  the  immediate  evangeli- 
zation was  the  first  solicitude  of  its  discoverers.  Co- 
incident with  the  unfurling  of  the  royal  banner  was  the 
planting  of  Redemption’s  emblem.  Began  four  cen- 
turies ago,  prosecuted  with  varying  success  but  unfalter- 
ing determination  during  the  elapsed  centuries,  inter- 
rupted only  by  the  political  readjustments  incident  to  a 
change  of  government  by  conquest  or  purchase,  forced 
to  a temporary  closure  by  the  martyrdom  of  the  men 
engaged — the  work  to-day  is  continued  with  the  same 
patient  endurance  and  steadfast  constancy.  Few  chap- 
ters in  the  history  of  the  Church  in  America  more  elo- 
quently attest  the  best  elements  of  the  Catholic  apostolate. 
We  need  not  be  surprised,  therefore,  that  our  standard, 
national  historians,  whether  we  consult  Bancroft,  Park- 
man  or  Fiske,  take  grateful  and  appreciative  cognizance 
of  this,  and  that  the  names  of  these  Christian  heroes  are 
perpetuated  in  the  geography — whether  it  be  stream,  city 
or  mountain — of  the  nation.  Much  less  that,  within  the 
last  few  days,  one  of  our  metropolitan  dailies,  not  dis- 

(l)  Report  of  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Catholic  Indian 
Missions,  for  1906. 


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tinguislied  for  an  overweening  admiration  of  the  Church, 
anent  the  Jamestown  Exposition,  in  unhesitating  frank- 
ness states  that  “ no  more  heroic  work  was  ever  done 
by  man  than  the  pioneer  work  of  the  French  missionaries 
wdio  penetrated  from  the  seaboard  to  the  Mississippi.”  (1) 
The  same  work,  under  new  and  changed  conditions,  is 
done  now.  It  is  characterized  by  the  same  reverent  hu- 
mility, meek  unobtrusiveness,  calm  self-effacement,  not 
uncoupled  with  hardship  and  privation,  meeting  with  the 
same  successes  or  reverses  that  have  always  marked  mis- 
sionary labor.  Ebi fortunately,  in  the  eager  haste  of 
modern  life,  the  agitated  rush  of  commercialism,  and 
the  consequent  blindness  of  our  spiritual  perceptions,  this 
crowning  work  of  the  Church  in  America  is  in  a measure 
overlooked,  or  at  least  receives  the  most  inappreciative 
recognition. 

The  Report,  unlike  all  of  its  predecessors,  with  one 
exception,  is  informing  and  comprehensive.  It  is  more 
than  a skeletonized  statement  of  income  and  expense,  a 
bald  recapitulation  of  w'earisome  generalities,  an  ostrich- 
like evolution  of  facing  danger,  a vague  and  non-com- 
mittal enunciation  of  policy.  It  teems  wdth  solid  data, 
enters  honestly  into  the  involved  condition  of  the  work, 
and  by  its  frankness  and  candor  of  statement  must  com- 
mand respect  and  inspire  confidence.  It  is  happily  devoid 
of  that  scathing  arraignment  of  the  administration,  that 
acrimonious  pilloring  of  Government  officials,  which  de- 
tracted so  much  from  the  dignity  and  value  of  many  of 
the  politically  flavored  documents  that  emanated  from 
the  same  office  in  olden  days. 

Fortunately,  the  conditions  are  such  now'  that  the 
strong  person alitv  of  President  Roosevelt  has  left  a most 
wholesome  impress  on  the  Indian  Department,  so  that 


(l)  Xew  York  Times,  April  27,  1907. 


4 


ST.  FRANCIS  MISSION,  RUSFBUD,  SOU  TH  HAKO'T.' 


its  every  fibre  and  tissue  is  inoculated  with  the  vitalizing 
serum  of  a “ square  deal."  Again,  the  commissionership 
is  no  longer  a snug  harbor  for  superannuated  clerical 
derelicts  and  pulpit  bankrupts,  who  could  only  raise  them- 
selves from  an  inevitable  obscurity  by  a clamorous,  ob- 
sessional hatred  of  " Romanism."  Glorified  bigotry  no 
longer  sits  enthroned  in  the  seat  of  authority  to  lord  it 
magisterially  over  the  Indian's  best  friend,  who  looked 
upon  the  very  persecution  inflicted  as  a stepping-stone 
of  an  approach  to  his  Divine  Ideal.  The  office  is  now 
filled  by  an  open-minded,  fearless  man,  with  an  experi- 
ence based  on  personal  knowledge  and  a courage  born  of 
unflinching  conviction.  We  need  not  wonder,  therefore, 
that  instead  of  berating  the  Indian  Department — in  its 
day  not  an  altogether  profitless  procedure,  much  as  we 
may  question  its  wisdom — the  Report  now  in  applausive 
language  records  its  satisfaction  at  the  amicable  and 
helpful  relations  that  exist  between  the  Government  and 
the  Bureau. 

The  Report,  again,  is  the  result  of  patient  inquiry,  as 
well  as  painstaking  care.  Its  concise,  authoritative  and 
verifiable  data — though  the  absence  of  sixteen  or  more 
reports,  as  well  as  the  fragmentary  character  of  others, 
deprives  it  of  a sense  of  final  completeness — will  all  the 
same  be  read  with  interest,  consulted  with  confidence, 
quoted  with  pride,  and.  above  all.  fulfil  the  object  of  its 
publication — stimulate  effort  to  continue  and  render  more 
effective  the  oldest  missionary  enterprise  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States. 

THE  C.VTIIOLIC  INOI.VX  MISSIONS. 

The  missionarv  work  among  the  Indians  in  its  entirety 
cannot  fail  brt  impress  even  the  casual  observer  by  the 
geographical  magnitude  of  its  scope,  as  much  as  by  the 


resourcefulness  and  adaptability,  aside  of  the  higher 
tokens  it  calls  for,  of  its  agents.  Though  directly  con- 
fined to  a comparatively  small  number  of  souls,  its  ac- 
tivity extends  over  the  territory  of  an  empire.  It  de- 
mands resources,  calls  for  qualifications,  taxes  endurance, 
tests  faith,  and  even  at  the  present  day  is  beset  by  diffi- 
culties and  hardships  that  only  a few  missionary  prob- 
lems in  the  present  world’s  history  can  parallel. 

Let  us  take  in  view  a few  of  these : the  territorial  ex- 
tent, the  tribal  complexities,  the  disjointed  condition  of 
the  flock,  the  enlisted  agencies  and  the  statistical  results. 
In  this  view  the  eye  of  faith,  though  it  be  short-sighted, 
must  discern  the  directing  hand  of  God ; to  the  Catholic 
heart  it  will  reveal  the  visible  manifestation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

There  are  eighty-eight  missions,  or,  if  you  will,  mis- 
sionary centres.  These,  in  accordance  with  the  Reserva- 
tion system  prevailing,  are  distributed  over  the  isolated, 
at  times  almost  inaccessible,  parts  of  thirteen  of  our 
remote,  least  populous  and  most  sparsely  settled  states. 
These  states  have  a gross  area  of  1,831.169  square  miles. 
The  vastness  of  this  original  field,  which  now  is  dotted 
with  cities,  towns  and  settlements,  will  be  more  readily 
appreciated  when  compared  to  that  of  the  great  mission- 
ary epoch  in  Europe.  In  actual  mileage  it  surpasses  the 
total  area  of  France,  Germany.  Austro-Hungary,  Italy 
and  Spain  combined. 

The  whistle  of  the  locomotive,  the  clang  of  the  trolley 
car.  the  honk  of  the  automobile,  the  puff  of  the  steam- 
boat. the  click  of  the  telegraph,  even  the  chirping  of  a 
bird  in  some  places,  are  still  unfamiliar  sounds.  The 
mode  of  transportation  is  as  sluggish  and  the  mode  of  life 
as  primitive  a.s  they  were  when  the  white  settler  first  set 
foot  in  the  country.  The  two  main  arteries  which  convev 
life  and  activity  to  the  Reservation  are  the  Agency,  where 


the  Government  has  its  seat,  and  the  Mission,  from  which 
circulates  its  spiritual  vitality. 

The  activity  of  these  mission  centres  dift'uses  itself 
over  seventy  tribes.  These  are  no  longer  nomads,  but 
Reservation  Indians,  living  in  disconnected  tribal  rela- 
tions, to  the  laws  and  customs  of  which  they  are  in  a 
way  amenable;  subject,  however,  to  the  sovereign  power 
of  the  guardian,  the  United  States  Government.  Though 
ethnologically  homogeneous,  to  the  eye  of  the  casual 
observer,  as  well  as  to  the  practical  experience  of  the 
missionary,  they  are  utterly  heterogeneous.  Springing 
from  a common  stock,  they  have  no  common  language. 
A most  bewildering  confusion  of  tongues  prevails,  and 
not  the  least  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  missionary  is 
the  mastery  of  these  tongues.  A tribe  living  adjacent 
to  a different  tribe  has  no  other  mode  of  communication 
than  the  unsatisfactory  and  imperfect  sign  language. 
The  familiarity  with  the  tribal  language  or  dialect  is 
always  the  first  prerequisite  of  the  traditional  as  well  as 
the  successful  missionary.  The  employment  of  an  in- 
terpreter is  of  little  benefit,  and  frequently  makes  con- 
fusion worse  confounded,  not  to  allude  to  the  irreverence 
and  grotesqueness  that  it  leads  to. 

These  Indians  have  no  common  pursuit.  Formerly 
the  abundance  of  game  and  the  never  deserted  warpath 
allowed  some  tangible  method  to  provender  their  families, 
and  some  outlet  to  gratify  their  ambition  or  glut  their 
vengeance.  The  e.xtermination  of  the  buffalo  and  elk 
disarmed  the  hunter ; the  rigidly  policed  Reservation 
closed  all  avenues  to  the  warriors’  trophies.  Tradition- 
ally, most  of  the  tribes  are  clever  at  some  handiwork, 
but  this  is  more  in  the  nature  of  an  exception  than  a rule. 
The  Navajo  weaves  a beautiful  blanket;  the  Moqui  makes 
a waterproof  wicker  jug;  the  Pueblo  models  cunningly 
in  clay;  the  Iroquois  fashions  a serviceable  birch-bark 


s 


vessel ; the  Klamath  shapes  a quaint  basket ; but,  after 
all,  these  are  rather  pleasant  diversions  than  profit-pro- 
ducing industries.  They  are  the  accomplishments  of  in- 
dividual tribes,  produced  greatly  by  the  exigencies  of 
their  local  environment,  of  which  the  others  are  in  utter 
ignorance,  and  for  which  they  manifest  no  other  feeling 
than  ill-disguised  contempt.  The  first  emancipating  step 
in  civilization  is,  and  always  has  been,  the  methodic  culti- 
vation of  the  soil.  This  was  unknown  to  the  Indian 
as  a means  of  self-support  until  the  missionary  and  the 
school  reached  him.  What  was  accomplished  in  this 
field  forms  one  of  the  most  historic  and  imperishable 
triumphs  of  the  Jesuit  and  Franciscan,  and  even  at  this 
day  produces  results  that  have  left  enduring  marks  on 
several  tribes  and  powerfully  effected  the  present  policy 
of  the  Indian  department.  If  we  add  to  this  the  indi- 
vidual land  ownership  the  Government  makes  possible 
under  a wise  law,  we  have  the  first  step  from  communal 
barbarism  to  self-supporting  citizenship. 

The  crux  of  the  missionary  are  the  widely  scattered 
and  detached  “ camps  ” and  pueblos  of  the  Reservation. 
The  geographical  boundaries  of  the  Reservations  are  sur- 
veyed and  fi.xed  by  the  Government,  after  official  inquiry 
and  investigation,  in  which  the  Indian  prior  to  18T0  had 
a consultive,  but  no  determining  voice.  They  were 
mapped  out  to  save  the  Indian  from  the  friction  of  the 
encroaching  white  settler,  and  were  designed  to  save 
him  from  those  bloody  collisions  which  we  usually  find 
depicted  in  such  conventionally  gruesome  colors  as 
“ massacres.”  when  the  red  man  was  successful,  and 
painted  in  all  the  tints  of  patriotically  fulsome  eulogy  as 
“ victories  ” when  he  laid  down  his  life  in  defense  of  his 
rights. 

A great  misconception  prevails  in  the  Eastern  mind 
about  these  Reservations.  It  is  usually  assumed  that 


0 


they  are  so  many  small  strips  of  territory  on  which 
the  Indians,  tenement-house  like,  live  in  collective  bodies 
about  the  Agency — the  centre  of  the  Reservation — within 
reach  of  both  law  and  religion.  Nothing  could  be  more 
misleading.  A Reservation  is  a tract  of  land,  large  or 
small,  reserved  for  the  Indian,  extending  over  a clearly 
defined  territory,  and  safeguarded  from  all  unlicensed 
intrusion  or  occupation  by  the  state  or  national  govern- 
ment. In  size  it  may  range  from  a few  acres  of  land  to 
the  proportions  of  a state.  Thus  the  Navajo  Reservation 
in  Arizona,  with  its  14,T53  square  miles,  is  larger  than 
the  state  of  ^Maryland ; the  Pine  Ridge  Reservation  in 
South  Dakota,  with  its  4,930  square  miles,  is  as  large  as 
Connecticut ; the  comparatively  small  Red  Lake  Reserva- 
tion in  ^Minnesota  is  as  large  as  Rhode  Island.  All  the 
Reservations  make  up  a territory  as  large  as  the  com- 
bined area  of  the  states  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn- 
sylvania and  Ohio. 

Taking  the  Reservations,  which  in  accordance  with 
President  Grant’s  Peace  Policy  were  allotted  to  our  mis- 
sionaries, under  consideration,  it  is  obvious  that  their 
very  extent  almost  places  an  insuperable  barrier  to  a 
wider  spread  of  religion.  Let  us  take  a closer  look  at 
this  condition.  The  Cheyenne  River  Reservation  in 
South  Dakota  has  one  zealous  priest  attending  a scat- 
tered flock  stretching  over  an  area  of  4,481  square  miles, 
with  only  one  church  and  three  chapels  and  three  cate- 
chists. Probably — the  absolute  fact  that  it  is  not  in  the 
reach  of  human  endurance  to  assume  more  binding  obli- 
gations, makes  him  with  characteristic  modesty  ask  for 
two  chapels — both  of  which  the  “ camps  ” have  been 
skimping  themselves  for  years  in  ineflfectual  efforts  to 
build  with  their  unaided  resources.  We  have  four  de- 
voted Jesuit  Fathers  at  the  Pine  Ridge  Reservation,  like- 
wise in  South  Dakota,  whose  parish  embraces  4.930 


10 


square  miles,  with  one  church  and  four  chapels  and  three 
catechists — but  with  six  “ camps,”  each  populous  enough 
to  fill  a good-sized  chapel.  Thus  we  might  pass  in  review 
almost  all  the  Reservations. 

In  these  “ camps  ” we  have  one  of  the  most  anomalous 
conditions  of  missionary  life.  The  units  of  the  tribe 
scattered,  so  that  all  tribal  cohesion  is  lost;  social  inter- 
course, even  in  its  primitive  character,  practically  inter- 
dicted ; the  periodical  visitation  of  the  missionary  an  im- 
possibility— in  all  this  lurks  one  of  the  great  dangers  of 
the  work.  Sad  necessity  compels  the  missionary  here  to 
assume  the  defensive  instead  of  taking  the  aggressive ; 
his  prudence  emphasizes  the  necessity  of  rather  maintain- 
ing an  unbroken,  disciplined  squad,  than  creating  a dis- 
ordered, undisciplined  army.  His  ministry  confines  itself 
perforce  to  the  dying  adults  and  new-born  infants,  in 
whose  final  perseverance  he  may  have  at  least  some 
shadow  of  a well-grounded  hope. 

d'he  regret  at  this  situation  is  not  lessened,  nor  is  the 
future  brightened  by  the  patent  facts  staring  us  in  the 
face,  that  a melancholy  leakage  is  evident  here  and  is 
daily  growing.  This  is  especially  the  case  among  those 
tribes  who  had  the  gift  of  faith  for  generations,  who 
were  the  offspring  of  the  firstlings  of  the  old  Jesuit  and 
Franciscan  pioneer  flock,  who  at  one  time  were  veritable 
object  lessons  to  the  nation,  and  are  usually  found  in 
states  where  every  landmark,  waterway  or  mountain 
peak  bears  testimony  of  their  spiritual  fathers’  zeal  and 
devotion,  and  in  not  a few  instances  are  sanctified  bv 
the  blood  of  martyrdom.  The  figures  of  the  Report  here 
almost  unconsciously  raise  the  query  whether  we  may 
not  be  witnesses  to  those  spiritual  disasters  in  Indian 
work — Paraguay  and  California!  Absit  omen!  If  so, 
we  cannot  as  Catholics  wash  our  hands  of  the  responsi- 
bility. In  both  these  calamitous  instances,  a rapacious 


n 


government  was  the  minister  of  spoliation  and  destruc- 
tion. Now  a fair  government  is  an  instrument  of  help- 
fulness and  support. 

When  we  come  to  the  enlisted  agencies,  the  sombre 
hues  of  misgiving  give  place  to  emotions  of  amazement, 
gratitude  and  joy.  No  work  has  met  with  a more  uni- 
form and  unstinted  appreciation  on  the  part  of  our 
national  historians  than  that  of  our  Indian  missionaries. 
Nor  has  the  Government,  and  especially  the  branch  in 
most  intimate  relations  with  it — the  army — been  chary 
in  giving  it  the  most  pronounced  recognition,  nor  has 
tlie  voice  of  the  most  savage  bigotry  ever  had  the  hardi- 
hood to  assail  it. 

Here  we  have  a roster  of  144  priests.  These  include 
32  Jesuits,  13  Benedictines,  13  Franciscans  and  16  secu- 
lars who  devote  themselves  exclusively  to  the  Indian. 
The  others  are  in  charge  of  large  fractions  of  Indian 
remnants,  such  as  have  shaken  off  the  “ old  ways  ” and 
now  follow  civilized  methods  of  life,  such  as  have  inter- 
married with  whites  and  now  are  full-fledged  citizens, 
such  as  have  their  own  homes  and  are  contributing  mem- 
bers of  the  parish — but  who  all  the  same  come  under  the 
designation  of  Indians. 

This  collective  body  attends  175  churches  and  missions. 
It  will  be  freely  admitted  that  the  most  arduous  part  of 
its  work  is  confined  to  the  numerous  and  remote  “ camps  ” 
and  pueblos.  These  “ camps  ” — the  name  itself  a relic  of 
the  old,  unstable  and  roaming  days  of  the  Indian,  making 
his  home  where  there  was  good  game  for  his  family  and 
abundant  pasture  and  water  for  his  ponies — usually  con- 
sist of  a numher  of  families  living  in  a detached,  but  still 
closely  knit  fashion,  with  a shack,  dugout,  log  hut  or 
tepee  serving  as  chapel.  At  the  present  time,  since  the 
Indian  has  taken  his  allotment  of  land,  they  are  and  will 
continue  to  be  established  and  inhabited  localities.  Being 


12 


(iKOUP,  ST.  FR.\XCIS  MISSIOX,  ROSEBUD,  SOUTH  DAKOTA. 


13 


very  far  away  from  the  Mission,  they  can  only  be  visited 
at  the  rarest  intervals,  unless  peremptory  demands  for 
the  presence  of  a priest  makes  the  visit  imperative.  These 
“ camps  ’ have  come  to  stay,  and  since  many  of  them 
are  large,  with  a population  numerous  enough  to  form  a 
good-sized  parish,  the  need  of  a chapel  is  one  of  the 
most  urgent  wants  of  the  missionary.  The  chapel  in 
itself  would  form  the  nucleus  of  a fixed  congregation 
and  settlement.  The  frontier  country  may  show  aban- 
doned farms  and  homes,  but  we  rpiestion  if  it  can  point 
to  one  abandoned  chapel,  unless,  indeed,  it  was  replaced 
by  a more  pretentious  church  or  necessitated  by  the 
transfer  of  the  tribe  to  another  locality.  No  magnet  has 
a greater  drawing  power,  or  effects  a more  solid  perma- 
nency, and  imparts  the  character  of  a more  immovable 
stability,  than  a chapel  or  church.  This  is  simply  history 
repeating  itself.  Almost  every  large  city  in  France, 
England,  Germany  or  Spain  was  at  first  a missionary 
centre. 

The  missionaries,  whose  life  and  training  precluded 
all  the  bizarre  and  theatrical  self-exploitation  of  the 
machine-made,  lecture-platform  genus,  have  studiously 
refrained  from  bringing  this  crying  need  of  chapels  ob- 
trusively to  the  public  attention.  The  Report  here  dis- 
closes a vital  need  that  we  propose  to  enlarge  upon  in 
a later  article. 

These  “ camps,”  far  removed  from  the  elevating  con- 
tact and  pervasive  influence  of  the  Blackrobe,  have  made 
it  a matter  of  necessity  to  appoint  a properly  accredited 
and  qualified  body  of  men  to  act  as  sentinels  and  cus- 
todians of  the  faith,  known  as  Catechists.  The  impor- 
tance of  this  office  and  the  demands  it  makes  on  its  en- 
cumbent cannot  be  estimated  by  those  living  in  civilized 
communities.  In  the  ancient  Church  these  catechists 
played  no  inconspicuous  part.  From  apostolic  times 


14 


clown  to  the  Middle  Ages  these  doctores,  “ teachers,” 
endowed  with  the  spiritual  gift  {charisma)  of  instructing 
the  ignorant  and  unbelieving  and  devoting  their  lives  to 
active  benevolence,  were  invaluable  aids  in  the  conversion 
of  the  world.  The  missionary  in  selecting  and  appoint- 
ing the  catechist  is  not  only  guided  by  the  precept  of 
St.  Paul,  to  choose  a man  who  will  be  “ an  example  of 
the  faithful  in  word,  in  conversation,  in  charity,  in  faith, 
in  chastity,”(  1)  but  also  one  who  possesses  the  attributes 
of  high  intelligence,  commanding  ability  and  prudent  zeal. 
Not  the  least  qualification  exacted  is  the  respect,  good 
will  and  confidence  of  all  the  tribe,  Christian  or  pagan. 

The  catechist  devotes  himself  to  his  clearly  outlined 
work,  and  this  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  avocations. 
With  his  catechism  he  visits  the  tepees  of  the  pagans  or 
catechumens  to  teach  them  their  prayers  and  instruct 
them  in  the  mysteries  of  religion.  The  religious  oral 
instruction,  in  the  Indian  tongue,  in  which  he  is  firmly 
grounded  by  the  missionary,  reaches  all  who  come  within 
range  of  his  zeal  or  voice.  With  his  Indian  prayer  book, 
he  summons  the  Catholics  to  the  shack,  dugout,  or  one 
of  the  more  presentable  tepees  on  Sundays  and  holidays, 
recites  the  Mass  prayers,  leads  in  .some  hymns,  reads 
from  some  pious  book,  conducts  the  night  prayers  in 
common,  and  does  not  hesitate,  if  circumstances  warrant 
it,  to  give  an  exhortation  in  simple  and  dignified  lan- 
guage. He  visits,  solaces  and  pravs  with  the  sick,  and 
in  necessity  baptizes  infants  or  desirous  adults.  With  a 
penetration,  the  result  of  clo.se  observation  and  wide  e.x- 
perience.  he  anticipates  impending  death  ; hastily  saddles 
his  active  little  cayuse  (Indian  pony),  and  with  unbroken 
haste,  unmindful  of  heat  or  cold,  rain  or  snow,  sunshine 
or  storm,  scurries  over  the  prairie — sometimes  a hun- 
dred miles  and  more — to  summon  the  Blackrobe.  Nor 

(1)  Tim.  IV,  12. 


15 


does  he  relax  his  passionate  ardor  until  the  last  spade 
of  clay  covers  the  grave  of  the  fully  prepared  object  of 
his  solicitude. 

The  main  strength  of  the  Protestant  missions  lies  in 
the  work  of  its  well-trained  and  well-paid  catechists.  If 
we  could  furnish  the  quota  asked  for,  or  even  part  of  it, 
we  would  create  an  engine  for  such  an  amount  of  good 
that  would  at  least  partially  make  amends  for  the  dearth 
of  priests. 

The  statistical  result,  the  record  of  the  mission  regis- 
ters, in  spite  of  a meagreness  incident  to  such  a desultory 
life  as  that  of  a Christianizing  pioneer,  who  spends  much, 
if  not  most  of  his  time  in  the  saddle  or  in  his  buggy 
away  from  the  central  mission,  is  most  gratifying.  The 
many  failures  to  send  in  reports  will  no  doubt  be 
remedied  in  the  course  of  one  or  two  more  annual  re- 
ports. However,  even  in  its  condition  of  incompleteness, 
it  bears  witness  to  the  well-directed  energ}'  and  compen- 
sating efforts  of  the  apostolic  men  having  the  work  in 
hand.  Of  course,  these  reports  in  the  main  have  refer- 
ence only  to  the  available  data  that  were  gleaned  at  the 
missions  proper ; the  transient  work,  far  from  insignifi- 
cant, done  while  on  the  itinerary,  being  doubtlessly  un- 
recorded. Here  we  have  the  statistics  of  651  adult  bap- 
tisms, 2,106  infant  baptisms,  590  confirmations,  60,211 
holy  communions  (that  little  ideal  Catholic  tribe  of  550 
Coeur  d’Alenes  alone  having  1,581  to  its  credit!),  1,094 
first  communions,  414  marriages  and  823  deaths. 

The  most  significant  and  edifying  fact  in  all  this  mis- 
sionary work,  one  which  concretely  epitomizes  the  Cath- 
olic apostolate  in  all  times  and  places,  one  which  must 
have  cost  many  a heart-burning  to  impart,  and  which  the 
Report  fearlessly  discloses,  one  which  should  stir  the 
Catholic  heart  to  its  innermost  recess  of  compunction, 
is  the  scant  financial  outlay  which  goes  to  the  support  of 


16 


the  purely  missionary  work.  To  those  Catholics  un- 
familiar with  our  missions  the  figures  will  look  para- 
doxical ; to  Protestants  accustomed  to  the  costly  ap- 
paratus they  generously  support  they  will  appear  in- 
credible, if  not  impossible. 

The  total  cash  expenditure  for  the  purely  Indian  mis- 
sionary work,  exclusive  of  the  school  work,  for  the  year 
1906  was  $15,695.00!  By  an  equitable  per  capita  dis- 
position this  would  allow  each  missionary  the  sum  of 
$<S2.00. 

The  Protestant  churches  in  their  work  among  the  In- 
dians in  1903  (the  only  available  report  at  hand  at  the 
moment),  dealing'  with  fewer  tribes,  occupying  a much 
smaller  territory  and  with  barely  one-half  of  the  Indian 
enumeration,  disbursed  $365,113.00! 

Like  the  Church  itself,  its  apostolate,  further  than 
yielding  to  an  unavoidable  change  of  conditions,  remains 
changeless.  The  apostolate  enjoined  by  our  Lord,  lived 
by  His  apostles  and  disciples,  imitated  by  an  Augustin, 
Patrick,  Boniface,  Cyril  and  Methodius ; meekly  followed 
by  a \del,  Brebeuf,  Gamier,  Jogues,  De  Smet  and  Marty, 
finds  its  lineal  descendants  in  the  holy  men  now  meekly 
following  their  footsteps.  The  Divine  injunction,  as 
far  as  the  personality  of  the  missionary  is  concerned,  is 
still  to  “take  nothing  for  the  way  l)ut  a staff  only;  no 
scrip,  nor  bread,  nor  money  in  the  purse.” 

In  explanation  of  the  difficulty  that  may  arise  in  some 
minds — how  can  the  missionaries  support  themselves  on 
such  an  apparently  inadequate  pittance — the  Report 
covertly  comes  to  our  aid.  We  find,  in  these  eighty-four 
missions,  no  less  tlian  seventy-eight  lay  brothers  of  the 
different  religious  bodies  employed.  That  means  that 
by  their  aid.  and  that  providential  fusion  of  ora  et  labora, 
or,  as  the  old  Franciscans  formulated  it,  manii  consilio- 
que  (with  hand  and  counsel) — a fusion  which  the  mis- 


17 


sionaries  themselves  did  not  eschew — the  missions  are 
made  self-supporting. 

It  is  safe  to  state  that  little,  if  any,  of  the  sum  goes  to 
supply  their  personal  needs ; that  the  whole  of  it  is  de- 
voted to  the  improvement  and  extension  of  the  work 
among  their  flock.  A man  who  has  consecrated  himself  to 
God  by  a solemn  vow,  and  chosen  poverty  as  a “ heavenly 
bride,”  gives  money,  aside  of  the  blessing  it  may  bring 
his  work,  no  thought  or  valuation.  Again,  the  masculine 
work  done  by  some  of  the  Sisters  engaged  in  the  schools 
is  of  a character  that  shocks  our  modern  sense  of  fas- 
tidious propriety.  The  writer  has  seen  a light-hearted, 
sun-tanned  Sister  harness  a team  of  dray  horses  with 
a familiarity  and  skill  that  proved  she  was  no  novice  in 
the  accomplishment ; he  saw  another  Sister  plow  a 
furrow  through  a stony  field  with  the  ease  and  precision 
of  an  expert  farmer;  he  saw  another  wield  the  hatchet 
and  saw  in  erecting  a picket  fence  with  the  reckless  ease 
that  would  have  brought  the  blush  of  envy  to  the  hardiest 
frontiersman. 

A more  beautiful  exemplification  of  the  traditional 
and  proverbial  spirit  of  the  Church  of  Christ  is  not  found 
in  the  confines  of  the  nation  than  that  unfolded  in  the 
personnel  manning  the  Indian  mission.  If,  like  St. 
Peter,  it  has  “ neither  silver  nor  gold,”  it  all  the  same 
pursues  its  soul-saving  work  with  unremitting  fervor  “ in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth  ” ; if,  like  St.  Paul, 
it  “ both  hungers  and  thirsts,  and  is  naked,  and  is  buf- 
feted, and  has  no  fixed  abode,”  these  disabilities  in  no  way 
daunt  its  courage  or  damp  its  enthusiasm. 

II. 

CAUSES  THAT  CREATED  THE  INDIAN  SCHOOL  CRISIS. 

Much  as  the  Indian  Reservation  has  been  decried, 
abundant  as  the  opportunities  for  political  profligacy  and 


18 


brutal  injustice  it  afforded,  cruel  and  inhuman  as  its 
repressive  measures  were  at  times,  there  remains  no 
doubt,  that  in  its  preliminary  conception,  it  harbored  the 
elements  of  beneficence  and  practicability.  Under  a 
proper  discharge  of  its  functions,  it  would  have  been 
comparatively  successful,  not  only  in  shielding  the  Indian 
from  fraudulent  adventurers,  but  in  advancing  him  by 
progressive  stages  to  civilization.  The  idea  was  a Cath- 
olic one,  and  found  its  original  types  in  the  Franciscan 
California  missions  and  the  Jesuit  South  American  re- 
ductions. Segregation  with  aboriginal  people,  like  segre- 
gation with  contagious  disease,  means  salvation ; dis- 
persion means  disorder  and  anarchy.  Of  course  it  could 
work  two  ways.  Under  the  control  of  arbitrary  and 
tyrannous  agents  it  could  create  the  greatest  hardship 
and  lay  the  seeds  of  fatal  demoralization  ; under  the  in- 
fluence of  upright  and  practical  supervisors  it  could  be- 
come the  vehicle  of  an  incalculable  amount  of  good. 
The  system  itself  at  first  blush  did  violence  to  accepted 
altruistic  notions  of  justice  and  sentimental  conceptions 
of  equity.  It  deprived  the  Indian  of  that  unrestrained 
natural  liberty,  which  invested  him  with  such  a glamour 
of  romance,  and  surrounded  him  with  such  a fascination 
of  heroism. 

It,  however,  taught  the  native  nomad  the  first  lesson 
in  domesticity : it  curbed  his  predatory  invasions  by  cir- 
cumscribing in  defined  limits  the  field  of  his  activity ; it 
put  an  end  to  bloody  tribal  feuds  by  the  restraining  in- 
fluence of  the  army  garrison,  always  within  call ; it  per- 
mitted the  reclamation  of  fertile  lands  which  were  lying 
fallow ; it  opened  the  boundless  forest  reserves  to  com- 
merce, which  were  rotting  in  decay ; it  made  way  for  the 
discovery  and  development  of  exhaustless  mineral  re- 
sources ; it  pushed  forward — not  without  resistance — the 
most  civilizing  influence  of  the  age — the  railroad.  Its 


19 


local  centralization  of  the  tribe,  in  the  care  of  resident 
guardians  and  advisers,  for  such  were  the  designated 
duties  of  the  Agents,  would  have  made  it  a cohesive, 
pliant,  ductile  body,  with  the  signposts  of  civilization 
displayed  in  every  direction,  and  safeguarded  against 
the  incursions  of  an  undesirable  white  element.  The 
struggle  between  civilization  and  barbarism  is  always  an 
unequal  one,  prolonged  or  shortened  as  it  may  be.  It 
can  end  in  but  one  of  two  ways : extermination  if  resist- 
ance is  offered — absorption  if  the  inevitable  is  accepted. 

A further  step  in  this  progressive,  but  still  experi- 
mental evolution  was  the  inauguration  of  President 
Grant’s  Peace  Policy,  July  20,  1867,  and  the  abrogation 
of  all  further  treaty  rights  by  an  Act  of  Congress,  March 
3,  1871.  Both  were  radical  departures  from  the  tradi- 
tional modes  of  dealing  with  the  red  man.  Accoring  to 
the  Congressional  enactment,  “ no  -Indian  nation  or  tribe 
within  the  territory  of  the  United  States  shall  be  ac- 
knowledged or  recognized  as  an  independent  nation, 
tribe  or  power  with  whom  the  United  States  may  con- 
tract by  treaty."  It  brought  to  a close  a chapter  in  the 
history  of  the  nation  far  from  reputable,  and  one  we 
would  gladly  erase.  To  the  cursory  observer,  if  not  to 
the  man  of  affairs,  the  scene  of  a committee  of  grave, 
dignified,  punctilious  statesmen,  habituated  to  an  at- 
mosphere of  legal  precision  and  parliamentary  astute- 
ness, meeting  an  equal  number  of  half-starved,  gor- 
geously bedaubed  and  grotesquely  bedizened  savages — 
in  all  solemnity  and  parade  go  through  the  formalities  of 
a treaty,  recognizing  them  as  free  agents,  independent 
people,  while  their  very  presence  was  enforced  by  an 
arbitrary  display  of  military  power  or  by  the  pangs  of 
gnawing  starvation,  was  a travesty  and  deception  that 
hardly  comported  with  the  honor  of  a great  republic. 

The  fraudulent  and  ludicrous  character  of  these  treaties 

t 


20 


21 


GOING  TO  CATHOLIC  SIOUX  CONGRESS,  STEPHAN,  SOUTH  DAKOTA, 


IS  such,  that  it  requires  a mind  of  abnormal  pliancy  to 
reconcile  them  with  even  a low  standard  of  commercial 
ethics,  not  to  speak  of  international  honesty.  When  the 
Dutch  governor,  Minuit,  in  16:^2,  perfected  his  title  to 
the  purchased  Island  of  Manhattan — the  present  city  of 
Xew  York — at  an  expense  of  sixty  guilders  ($24.00),  a 
price  that  one  Indian  historian  facetiously  calls  “ an  ex- 
ceptional case  of  liberality,”  the  Indian  soon  discovered 
the  dishonest  artifice.  Need  we  wonder  that  in  1653,  a 
wall  had  to  he  built  about  the  island — M all  Street  per- 
petuates the  event — to  place  a barrier  to  the  Indians’ 
vociferous  and  demonstrative  manifestations  of  grati- 
tude? M'hen.  in  1(583,  the  Cayugas  and  Onondagas  were 
cajoled  into  parting  with  all  the  land  lying  on  the  Susque- 
hanna River  for  ” a piece  of  cloth,  two  blankets,  two 
guns,  three  kettles,  four  coats,  fifty  pounds  of  lead,  and 
twenty-five  pounds  of  powder,”  need  we  again  be  sur- 
prised that  the  innocent  recipients  of  this  lavish  bounty 
in  incontinent  haste  used  the  two  last  items  of  their  pay- 
ment in  singling  out  their  benefactors  as  marks  of  well- 
deserved  appreciation?  Did  Roger  Williams  unsuspect- 
ingly fall  a victim  to  “ ways  that  are  dark  and  tricks 
that  are  vain,”  when  he  purchased  the  whole  of  Rhode 
Island  for  “ forty  fathoms  of  beads  ? ” 

The  enumeration  might  be  indefinitely  prolonged,  only 
to  reveal  more  fully  the  preposterous,  if  not  criminal 
character  of  a majority  of  these  treaties.  As  to  the 
manner  the  subsequent  treaties  were  observed,  the  ten- 
uous and  ambiguous  phraseology  in  which  they  were 
couched,  and  the  implacable  massacres  they  unfailingly 
led  to — the  less  said  the  better.  “ Among  civilized  men,” 
is  the  outspoken  declaration  of  the  first  Peace  Com- 
missioners. “ war  usually  springs  from  a sense  of  in- 
justice. MTen  we  learn  that  the  same  rule  holds  good 
with  Indians,  the  chief  difficulty  is  removed.  But  it  is 


22 


said  our  wars  with  them  have  been  almost  constant. 
Have  we  been  uniformly  unjust?  We  answer,  unhesi- 
tatingly, yes.” 

There  exists  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any  dispassionate 
student  of  Indian  affairs,  that  the  $850,000,000  spent  in 
Indian  wars  were  mostly  spent  to  ratify  treaties. 

These  treaties,  of  which  we  have  no  less  than  372, 
filling  an  octavo  volume  of  1,075  pages,  were  generally 
treaties  for  the  cession  of  land.  It  was  all  the  poor 
savage,  aside  of  his  pelts  and  skins,  could  barter,  and 
then  it  was  so  much  easier  to  part  with.  It  was  by  these 
treaties  a greater  part  of  our  national  territory  was  ac- 
quired. It  included  in  their  entirety  the  states  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  not 
to  allude  to  the  great  portions  of  Tennessee,  ^Michigan 
and  Wisconsin.  In  all  these  cessions  or  purchases,  the 
Indians’  right  to  the  land  was  liistorically  unassailable, 
legally  indisputable.  The  precedent  established  by  the 
original  discoverers  of  our  continent,  that  the  Indian  had 
an  imprescriptible  right  of  occupancy,  as  long  as  he 
recognized  that  sovereignty  went  with  the  right  of  dis- 
covery, was  frankly  admitted.  Had  it  only  been  as 
scrupulously  observed.  For  more  than  eighty-five  years 
the  only  process  of  e.xtinguishing  the  Indians’  title  to 
land  was  with  the  consent  of  the  Indian.  This  consent 
was  expressed  in  the  treaties,  in  which  both  parties  acted 
with  equal  rights  of  initiative  and  equal  rights  of  negotia- 
tion. In  only  one  case,  that  of  the  Siou.x,  of  Minnesota, 
after  the  outbreak  of  1862,  did  the  United  States  e.xtin- 
guish  a title  by  conquest — but  even  then,  in  view  of  the 
desperate  straits  the  Indian  was  placed  in  by  a criminal 
disregard  of  the  e.xisting  treaty,  the  Government  pro- 
vided him  with  another  Reservation,  and  further,  allowed 
him  the  proceeds  of  the  sold  lands  vacated. 

The  total  expenditures  for  these  ceded  lands  from  1789 


23 


to  1902  amounted  to  $315,615,260.  The  sum  of  $2,- 
065,845  is  still  annually  appropriated  to  the  Indian  under 
treaty  stipulations. 

The  inauguration  of  the  Peace  Policy  marked  the  dawn 
of  a new  era  in  the  history  of  the  Indian,  and  necessi- 
tated a complete  reconstruction  of  procedure.  The  Peace 
Commission  was  authorized  “ to  call  together  the  chiefs 
and  head  men  of  such  bands  of  Indians  as  were  then 
waging  war,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  their  reasons 
for  hostility,  and,  if  thought  advisable,  to  make  treaties 
with  them,  having  in  view  the  following  objects,  viz.: 
First.  To  remove,  if  possible,  the  causes  of  war.  Second. 
To  secure,  as  far  as  possible,  our  frontier  settlements, 
and  the  safe  building  of  our  railroads  looking  to  the 
Pacific.  And  third.  To  suggest  or  inaugurate  some  plan 
for  the  civilization  of  the  Indians.”  While  ostensibly  an 
eminently  fair  and  just  policy,  calculated  to  enlist  the 
sympathy  and  approval  of  all  lovers  of  justice  and  hu- 
manity, while  at  the  same  time  not  altogether  acceptable 
to  the  reluctant  Indian,  the  third  provision  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  severest  blows  the  Catholic  Indian  mission 
ever  received.  It  meant  the  disintegration  of  three  cen- 
turies of  work,  and  the  diffusion  of  the  Catholic  flock  in 
a manner  that  could  not  be  viewed  without  dismay  and 
sorrow.  It  looked  as  if  the  whole  policy  were  more  a 
premeditated  onslaught  on  the  Catholic  Church  than  a 
mission  of  mercy  and  helpfulness  to  the  Indian. 

The  report  of  the  first  Peace  Commission,  January  8, 
1868,  on  which  four  distinguished  army  officers.  Generals 
.Sherman,  Harney,  Terry  and  Auger,  real  “ Indian 
fighters,”  served,  was  more  in  the  nature  of  a national 
indictment  than  a calm  survey  of  the  proposed  work.  It 
aroused  the  country  to  a most  humiliating  sense  of 
national  apathy  and  shame ; it  energized  instant  action 
to  make  national  reparation  for  a “ Century  of  Dishonor.” 


24 


“ Nobody  pays  any  attention  to  Indian  matters,”  it 
daringly  proclaims.  ‘‘  This  is  a deplorable  fact.  Mem- 
bers of  Congress  understand  the  Negro  Question  and 
talk  learnedly  on  finance  and  political  economy,  but  when 
the  progress  of  settlement  reaches  the  Indian’s  home,  the 
only  question  is,  how  best  to  get  his  lands.  When  they 
are  obtained  the  Indian  is  lost  sight  of.  While  our  mis- 
sionary and  benevolent  associations  have  annually  col- 
lected thousands  of  dollars  from  the  charitable  to  send 
to  Asia  and  Africa,  for  the  purpose  of  civilization, 
scarcely  a dollar  is  expended  or  a thought  bestowed  on 
the  civilization  of  the  Indians  at  our  doors.”  The  trans- 
parent truthfulness  of  the  picture,  the  unmincing  logic 
of  the  arraignment  set  in  motion  a wave  of  national  sym- 
pathy and  infused  a stimulus  to  the  appeal  that  augured 
well  for  the  Indian. 

The  plan  outlined  was  apparently  humane  and  helpful 
as  far  as  it  concerned  the  Government,  generous  and 
stimulating,  as  far  as  concerned  its  overtures  to  the 
agencies  that  would  espouse  it ; but  from  the  Catholic 
standpoint  it  could  only  create  fear  and  anxiety.  Had 
but  one — and  that  really  the  crucial  provision  of  the 
Peace  Policy — been  eliminated  or  modified,  it  would  have 
met  the  hearty  concurrence  of  every  Catholic  missionary. 
The  Peace  Policy  demanded  the  allotment  of  the  various 
tribes  to  the  different  churches.  P>ut  with  one  or  two 
feeble  and  tentative  efforts,  these  churches  had  never 
done  any  missionary  work  among  the  Indians,  and  prob- 
ably without  the  invitation  and  support  of  the  Govern- 
ment would  never  have  attempted  it.  Again,  if  their 
assignments  had  been  made  to  the  pagan  Indians,  to 
initiate  the  work  of  Christianization,  no  exception  could 
have  been  taken  to  the  provision.  What  inducement 
could  be  offered  to  enlist  their  interest  and  secure  their 
co-operation  ? 


25 


The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  in  his  report  for 
1872,  places  on  official  record  what  is  clearly  and  dis- 
tinctly a violation  of  the  Constitution,  by  making  estab- 
lished religions  with  exclusive  privileges  at  various  points 
of  our  national  territory.  The  summary  method  was 
simply  to  parcel  the  Catholic  Indians,  who  outnumbered 
all  civilized  Indians,  to  the  different  sects,  heedless  of 
the  vehement  protests  of  the  Catholic  missionaries  who 
had  converted  them,  despite  the  turbulent  opposition, 
almost  requiring  armed  intervention,  of  the  Indians,  in 
defiance  of  the  elementary  principles  of  justice  and  fair 
play.  The  prospective  conditions  were  appalling.  Pic- 
ture the  consternation  of  the  1,700  Catholic  Mission 
Indians  in  California,  the  3,000  Catholic  Yakamis  in 
Washington  Territory,  handed  over  to  the  Methodist 
Church ! The  7,683  Catholic  Pueblos  of  New  Mexico — 
Catholics  for  ten  generations — to  the  Campbellites ! The 
4,321  Catholic  Pimas  relegated  to  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  ! The  1,440  Catholic  Winnebagoes  consigned  to 
the  Ilicksite  Friends,  while  the  400  Catholic  Pottowa- 
tomies  fell  to  the  Orthodox  Friends!  The  1,362  Catholic 
Menominees  to  the  Congregationalist  Church ! The 
Catholic  Chippewas  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church ! 

By  an  act  of  characteristic  restitutive  magnanimity  the 
Government  assigned  the  Fort  Colville  Agency,  in  Wash- 
ington Territory,  with  its  3,349  Indians,  the  Tulalip,  with 
its  2,600,  the  Grande  Ronde  and  Umatilla,  in  Oregon, 
with  their  3,307,  the  Flathead,  in  Montana,  with  their 
1,700,  and  the  Devil’s  Lake  and  Grand  River  agencies, 
in  Dakota,  with  their  7,445  Sioux — to  the  Catholic 
Church ! 

The  allotment  of  23,000  Catholic  Indians,  the  fruit  of 
centuries  of  toil  and  care,  pra)^er  and  martyrdom  to 
Protestant  church  bodies ; these  bodies  in  some  instances 
filled  with  deadly  hatred  of  everything  that  savored  of 


26 


“ Popery  ” ; the  Indians  corralled  on  Reservations,  the 
boundary  of  which  no  priest  could  overstep,  even  in  the 
most  imperative  exigency  demanding  his  ministry,  with- 
out subjecting  himself  to  insult  and  arrest;  the  mission- 
ary the  victim  of  scurrilous  assaults  and  cowardly  mis- 
representation of  agents,  nominated  by  the  sect,  or  the 
Protestant  missionary  himself  acting  as  agent,  made  the 
official  Government  reports  a disgrace  to  the  department, 
and  an  outrage  on  decency.  The  whole  unfortunate  and 
disastrous  calamity  marked  one  of  the  most  perilous 
depths  into  which  our  Indian  work  in  all  its  vicissitudes 
had  ever  sunk.  Yet,  when  the  calamity  was  impending, 
and  an  apparent  deathblow  dealt  to  a work  in  the  very 
forefront  of  Catholic  endeavor,  one  sanctified  by  the  lives 
and  deaths  of  men  who,  in  apostolic  heroism,  were  the 
ripest  fruit  of  Catholic  zeal  on  the  American  continent — 
the  voice  of  Catholic  sentiment  was  unheard,  the  quicken- 
ing of  the  Catholic  conscience  benumbed,  the  spiritual 
disaster  passed  unnoticed  ! Aside  of  the  alarm  sounded 
by  the  Catholic  Indian  llureau,  righteous  indignation 
voiced  itself  in  the  sjjoradic,  stammering,  half  apologetic, 
but  futile  accents  of  individual  ])rotest. 

The  Peace  Policy,  like  many  an  utopian  creation,  in 
sj)ite  of  its  supposedly  well-meaning  and  equitable  inten- 
tion, was  doomed  to  failure  from  the  very  moment  of  its 
birth.  This  was  manifest  to  clear  thinkers  on  both  the 
Catholic  and  Protestant  side.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
but  that  the  Government  was  misled  by  overzealous,  mis- 
guided philanthropists,  who,  aiscoiiced  in  their  snug 
libraries  in  the  far  East,  have  ever  retarded  the  work  of 
Indian  progress  more  than  they  advanced  it,  and  have 
frequently  proven  themselves  more  of  a stumbling-block 
than  a stepping-stone  in  a work  demanding  practical 
knowledge  and  personal  observation. 

In  the  light  of  history — we  mean  Protestant  history — 


27 


the  promoters  of  this  policy  might  have  read  “ that  the 
Roman  Catholic  missions  among  the  Indians,  from  the 
very  first  down  to  our  times,  have  been  more  successful 
in  accomplishing  their  aims  and  results  which  they  had 
in  view  than  have  those  of  any  or  all  denominations  of 
Protestants.”(l)  They  should  have  perceived  the  in- 
congruity, not  to  say  impossibility  and  criminality  of 
leading  the  Indian  into  such  hazy  mists  of  theological 
metaphysics,  that  clamor  for  solution  in  the  circles  of 
scientific  culture  and  academic  training.  There  is  a vol- 
ume of  condensed  wisdom,  at  the  same  time  an  uncon- 
scious sarcasm,  in  the  old  Nez  Perces  Chief  Joseph’s 
opposition  to  a mission  school,  finding  in  it  another  provo- 
cation to  warfare : “ They  will  teach  us  to  quarrel  about 
the  Great  Spirit  ...  we  fight  each  other,  we  don’t 
want  to  learn  to  fight  about  the  Great  Spirit.”  This,  a 
display  of  sententious  wisdom  that  can  be  found  in  every 
tribe,  would  be  enough  to  give  the  fullest  confirmation 
of  what  Columbus  wrote  to  King  Ferdinand:  “For  the 
temper  of  the  brain  in  quick  apprehensions  and  discover- 
ing judgments  (to  say  no  more),  the  most  High  Sov- 
ereign God  and  Creator  hath  not  made  them  inferior  to 
Furopeans.”  Certainly  superior  to  some  Americans. 

The  principal  stipulation  was:  that  each  denomination, 
in  assuming  the  spiritual  responsibilities  of  the  tribe  as- 
signed to  it.  must  also  assume  the  educational  and  indus- 
trial obligation.  Its  unaffirmed  maxim  was  the  old  Cath- 
olic shibboleth — first  Christianize,  then  civilize.  The 
school  must  be  in  juxtaposition  to  the  church ; the  teacher 
must  accompanv.  or  be  identified  with  the  missionary ; 
the  alphabet  must  be  taught  in  connection  with  the 
catechism,  the  Indian’s  duty  to  God  was  to  teach  him 
his  dutv  to  Uncle  Sam.  To  assure  the  amplest  scope  of 

(1)  “The  Red  Man  and  White  Man.’’  George  E.  Ellis.  P.  80. 
Boston,  1882. 


28 


ST.  BRIDGET’S  CHAPEL,  ROSEBUD  RESERVATION. 
Sample  of  $1,000  Chapel,  Donated  by  Thomas  McMahon,  New  York 
City,  and  Furnished  at  His  Expense. 


29 


action  and  the  fullest  measure  of  success,  the  national 
treasury  was  flung  wide  open,  and  the  pledge  of  the 
United  States  given,  that  if  the  respective  church  de- 
nominations would  erect  schools  at  their  own  expense, 
the  Government  would  pay  for  each  and  every  child  of 
Indian  parentage  attending  them. 

Hardly  recovered  from  the  stupefaction  occasioned  by 
the  wanton  and  disastrous  disruption  of  their  old  flocks, 
in  order  to  save  the  remnant  entrusted  to  them,  sorrow 
and  irresolution  was  soon  changed  into  an  intensified 
zeal  and  a more  consuming  ardor.  Providence  seemed 
to  change  the  moment  of  supremest  defeat  into  one  of 
signal  triumph.  Individual  charity  with  unexampled 
munificence  came  to  the  aid  of  our  penniless  cause;  school 
houses  sprang  up  as  if  by  conjuration;  fervid  men  and 
devoted  women  bravely  entered  the  new  field ; the  In- 
dians in  ever-increasing  numbers  crowded  the  missions ; 
and  a pace  was  set  that  soon  threw  the  earnest  but  dis- 
concerted rivals  in  the  rear.  In  1886  we  counted  38 
schools  with  an  enrollment  of  2,068  children;  in  1896 
the  schools  were  increased  and  the  enrollment  doubled. 
The  twelve  languishing  schools  of  Protestantism  could 
barely  muster  500  pupils.  The  result  was  that  the  loss 
of  the  Government  appropriation,  as  much  as  the  utter 
and  irretrievable  failure  of  all  its  attempts,  compelled  it 
to  abandon  them.  “ The  disproportion  of  pupils  and 
appropriation  compared  with  those  of  Protestantism,” 
said  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  “ was  not  to  the  discredit  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  which  works  with  efficiency  be- 
cause it  works  as  a unit,  but  rather  to  the  discredit  of 
the  Protestant  churches,  which  are  unable  to  lay  aside 
their  differences  and  combine  their  efforts  in  so  simple 
a matter  as  the  non-sectarian  education  of  a pagan  people 
within  the  bounds  of  our  country.” 

The  Government  pledged  its  honor  that  the  appropria- 


30 


tions  would  be  made  on  a per  capita  basis  of  every  child 
educated.  The  whole  plan,  obnoxious  to  the  Church, 
was  formulated  without  its  consent  or  approval,  and  was 
only  entered  under  the  stress  of  circumstances  that  could 
not  be  evaded,  and  against  which  it  protested.  In  1891 
the  Catholic  Contract  schools  received  an  annual  appro- 
priation of  $317,689 ; the  combined  Protestant  Contract 
schools,  $206,689. 

A great  hue  and  cry  was  raised  in  the  sectarian  press 
about  the  unconstitutional  “ union  of  State  and  Church  ” ; 
scintillating  pulpit  fulminations  were  heard  throughout 
the  land  about  the  insidious  encroachments  of  “ Roman- 
ism ” ; the  insatiate  cupidity  of  “ Popery  ” in  draining 
the  national  treasury  was  the  keynote  of  resolutions 
hurled  from  synod,  classis,  convocation  and  conference; 
the  hysterical  mouthings  of  a secret  political  organization 
infected  with  a most  malignant  form  of  anti-Catholic 
rabies,  thrust  the  issue  into  national  politics,  with  the 
result  that  a timid,  time-serving  Congress  abolished  all 
the  Contract  schools,  June  7,  1897.  It  was  in  vain  that 
the  leading  Indian  educator  of  the  country.  General  Arm- 
strong, of  the  Hampton  Institute,  courageously  main- 
tained that  “ if  the  Catholics  had  more  help  than  other 
denominations,  it  is  because  they  worked  the  harder  for 
it  ...  if  the  Catholics  have  gathered  two-thirds  of 
the  appropriations  of  Government,  it  is  simply  because 
they  have  reaped  what  they  have  sown.”  The  nation 
was  the  victim  of  one  of  its  intermittent  anti-Catholic 
brain-storms,  which  usually  topsyturns  its  rational  facul- 
ties. and  while  opening  new  lines  of  specialization  for  the 
psychopath  in  its  temporary  aberration,  trampled  under 
foot  the  laws  of  equity  and  decency  in  indiscriminate 
madness. 

It  was  the  hand  of  an  enlightened,  intrepid  Presby- 
terian minister,  the  historian  of  his  church.  Dr.  Robert 


31 


Ellis  Thompson,  who  penned  the  epitaph  of  the  Peace 
Policy:  "Through  the  jealousy  which  has  been  excited 

by  the  greater  extent  and  success  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
schools.” 

The  withdrawal  of  the  pledged  Government  support 
added  another  sad  chapter  to  the  unfortunate  history  of 
the  Catholic  Indian  Missions.  It  precipitated  a crisis, 
probably  the  last  one  we  shall  be  called  upon  to  face — 
a crisis  unless  it  be  met  with  decision  and  courage,  open- 
minded  intelligence  and  open-pursed  generosity,  will 
make  the  rising  generation  eyewitness  of  the  Indians’ 
doom  and  disappearance  as  an  object  of  our  religious 
care  and  solicitude.  The  providential  interjx)sition  of  a 
consecrated  woman,  who  had  cheerfully  given  her  wealth 
as  she  dedicated  her  life  to  this  national  reparation,  is 
momentarily  staving  off  the  impending  doom.  It  was 
mainly,  if  not  solely,  through  her  unobtrusive  charity 
that  these  schools,  costing  a million  and  a half  dollars, 
were  erected  and  equipped.  Efficiently  managed  by  men 
and  women  who  love  them  as  the  very  apple  of  their 
eyes,  and  undergo  innumerable  privations  to  sustain 
them  in  their  unimpaired  attendance,  they  elicit  the  com- 
mendation of  the  Government  and  the  gratitude  of  the 
Indian.  The  death  of  this  benefactress  would  plunge 
the  Church  into  further  complications,  the  mere  contem- 
plation of  which  involuntarily  makes  one  shudder  with 
fearsome  apprehensions. 

“ The  history  of  the  Indian  Department,”  is  the  sober 
and  reflective  judgment  of  one  of  the  greatest  of  Indian 
specialists,  made  twenty-five  years  ago,  one  who  was  the 
friend  and  counsellor  of  Bancroft  and  Parkman — John 
Gilmary  Shea^ — “ is  a history  of  sectarian  intrigues  and 
violence  to  hamper  and  break  up  the  Catholic  missions, 
and  raise  such  obstacles  as  would  drive  from  the  fields  of 
labor,  in  which  they  were  really  serving  the  whole  coun- 


32 


try,  the  devoted  Catholic  priests  who  gave  their  talents 
and  education  to  the  enlightenment  of  degraded  members 
of  the  human  family.” (1) 


III. 

CATHOLIC  AND  GOVERNMENT  INDIAN  SCHOOLS SOME 

SUGGESTIONS. 

The  status  of  the  Catholic  Indian  educational  problem, 
which  after  all,  under  prevailing  conditions,  is  the  very 
soul  of  the  missionary  problem,  necessarily  takes  up  the 
greater  bulk  of  the  Report  just  as  it  touches  with  con- 
summate clearness  on  the  vital  issues  at  stake.  It  casts 
side-lights  on  a picture  involved  in  considerable  obscurity, 
but  shows  glimmerings  of  a view  that  will  brighten  the 
gloomy  forecasts  of  the  most  avowed  pessimist.  It  boldly 
sounds  a keynote  of  conciliatory  action  in  strange  con- 
trast to  the  warlike  slogan  that  characterized  the 
Bureau’s  former  utterances. 

One  fact  it  emphasizes,  and  in  a straightforward,  even 
courageous  way,  brings  to  our  attention — the  gradual 
disappearance  of  the  old-time  distrust  and  bitterness 
existing  between  the  Catholic  and  Government  schools, 
and  the  change  of  sentiment,  that  the  large  number  of 
children  placed  in  the  latter  shall  no  longer  be  looked 
upon  as  culpably  outside  the  scope  of  religious  oversight. 
This  was  brought  about,  in  a large  measure,  by  the  reso- 
lute policy  of  the  present  .Administration  in  carefully 
winnowing  the  Indian  service  and  with  inflexible  deter- 
mination stamping  out,  "as  far  as  it  could,  the  lingering 
traces  of  sectarian  bigotry.  A contributing  element,  if 
not  paramount  factor,  was  the  slowly  dawning  realiza- 
tion on  the  part  of  our  missionaries,  that  the  poor  chil- 
dren, involuntary  subjects  of  finding  themselves  in  an 

(l)  American  Cath.  Quart.,  1881,  p.  528. 


33 


un-Catholic  atmosphere,  surrounded  by  faith-estranging 
influences,  should  not  be  dealt  with  as  spiritual  outcasts 
or  irreclaimable  reprobates. 

The  Indian  Department,  on  whose  favor  and  grace  all 
our  work  depends,  and  which,  in  the  capacity  of  the 
Indians’  guardian,  could  embarrass  and  even  neutralize 
it — as  we  know  from  sad  experience — has  shown  a most 
commendable  spirit.  \Ye  cannot  reject  or  neglect  it  with- 
out dire  peril  to  souls  and  an  unpardonable  disregard  of 
our  plain  duties.  'True,  some  of  the  Indian  Government 
schools,  in  spite  of  every  precaution,  may  still  be  in  the 
control  of  narrow-minded  intolerance,  may  even  by  cun- 
ning evasion  and  crafty  subterfuge  set  at  naught  its  wise 
and  prudential  rulings.  But  we  can  rest  assured  that 
the  conscientious  vigilance  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  by  a slow  and  effective  process  of  governmental 
disinfection,  will  eventually  rout  the  noxious  element 
from  the  service.  It  took  the  Government  more  than  a 
generation  to  oust  the  corrupt  and  corrupting  Reserva- 
tion agent  intrenched  in  his  presumptively  impregnable 
political  defense ; the  death-knell  of  the  anti-Catholic 
school  superintendent,  shrouded  in  his  sacrosanct  self- 
complacency,  is  sounded  by  the  very  agency  he  helped 
to  establish. 

However  praiseworthy  the  attitude  of  the  Administra- 
tion towards  its  Catholic  Indian  wards  is,  sympathetic 
as  its  relations  with  the  Catholic  Indian  schools  are,  much 
as  its  fairness  elicits  our  gratitude,  the  Government 
school,  owing  to  a basic  defect,  can  only  partially  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  Catholic  conscience.  This  radical 
defect,  which  it  can  hardly  cope  with,  being  outside  the 
sphere  of  its  constitutional  powers,  will  probably  never 
be  set  aside.  We  refer  to  the  absence  of  definite  religious 
teaching.  The  analog}'  between  the  Indian  and  Public 
School  is  identical,  only  in  a more  accentuated  form. 


34 


The  arguments  that  obtain  validity  there  do  so  here  only 
with  more  cogency.  The  white  child  has  presumably  a 
Christian  home,  a Christian  church  and  Sunday  school. 
The  hapless  Indian  child  is  destitute  of  all  these  salutary 
adjuncts,  and  frequently  finds  the  greatest  barrier  to 
its  moral  and  intellectual  advancement  in  the  very 
source  where  it  should  find  its  most  potent  incentive — its 
family  and  people.  The  nationalization  of  the  Indian 
school,  forced  on  the  Government  by  anti-Catholic  politi- 
cal and  sectarian  exigencies,  was,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  intentionally  or  unintentionally  more  in  the  nature 
of  a blow  aimed  at  Catholicism  than  an  honest  attempt  to 
uplift  the  Indian.  Did  its  advocates  foresee,  that  in  the 
event  of  closing  the  contract  schools  they  would  sum- 
marily close  the  gates  of  a definite  Christianity  to  the 
aftlicted  race  it  was  supposed  to  aid  ? Were  they  unmind- 
ful of  the  words  of  General  Armstrong,  that  unimpeach- 
able Indian  educator  of  the  age,  that  “ best  of  all,  behind 
all  and  more  than  all,  missionary  work  has  helped  the 
Indian  ? ” That  the  open  sesame  to  the  Indian  problem 
“ was  to  improve  and  increase  the  facilities  for  educa- 
tion, especially  in  industrial  lines  and  under  Christian 
influences?  ” That  the  final  solution  would  be  found  “ in 
many  agency  schools  under  religious  influences?” 

The  Indian's  nature,  like  that  of  any  other  member  of 
the  human  family,  is  concededly  threefold — spiritual,  in- 
tellectual and  physical.  All  three  must  receive  their  pro- 
portional share  of  cultivation  and  development.  His 
spiritual  nature,  however,  is  his  priceless  heritage,  his 
life,  his  present,  his  future.  Christian  instinct,  as  well 
as  common  sense,  tell  us,  in  his  pursuit  of  happiness  the 
imperishable  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  perishable,  the  im- 
mortal to  the  mortal,  the  soul  to  the  body.  In  all  sys- 
tems of  educational  reform,  from  Plato  down  to  the 
latest  pedagogic  sensationalist,  the  moral  must  as  a 


35 


logical  necessity  take  precedence  over  the  physical  or 
intellectual. 

Charlemagne,  under  the  inspiration  of  Alcuin,  one  of 
the  earliest  and  greatest  Christian  educators,  devised  his 
scheme  of  instruction  on  the  theory  “ that  the  basis  of 
political  unity  is  a unity  of  ideas  and  morals,  and  that 
moral  unity  is  found  only  in  religion.”  Pestalozzi,  with 
precarious  theological  leanings,  maintains  all  the  same 
that  all  education  that  is  not  based  on  the  Christian  re- 
ligion is  inherently  defective  and  disastrously  incomplete. 
Rosenkrantz  says  that  the  highest  culmination  of  educa- 
tional effort  for  the  individual  is  religion — that  the  finite 
individual  can  only  find  himself  in  alliance  with  the  In- 
finite. The  late  Dr.  Harper  was  disturbed  by  the  reflec- 
tion— what  will  be  the  effect  fifty  years  hence  of  the 
education  which  is  doing  so  much  for  the  intellect  and 
so  little  for  the  soul  ? Ramsay  eloquently  appeals  for 
the  revival  of  the  idea  that  there  is  such  a thing  as  the 
spiritual  life.  How  apposite  in  the  case  under  considera- 
tion is  Herbert  Spencer,  when  from  the  viewpoint  of 
simple  morality,  he  tells  us,  that  to  educate  reason  with- 
out educating  desire  is  like  giving  a repeating  rifle  to  a 
savage?  You  do  not  tame  the  brute,  you  simply  arm  it. 
With  what  accuracy  does  not  Dante  define  education 
when  he  tells  us  that  its  object  is  to  fit  men  for  eternity? 
What  an  identity  of  thought,  in  spite  of  its  strong  theo- 
logical tinge,  do  we  not  find  in  Milton,  when  he  tells  us 
that  education  is  the  effort  to  enable  man  to  regain  what 
he  lost  by  Adam’s  fall?  Or  to  come  nearer  home  and 
to  our  own  time,  what  definition  summarizes  the  func- 
tion of  true  education  more  sententiously  than  President 
Roosevelt,  when  he  states  that  education  is  “ to  train  not 
merely  body  and  mind,  but  the  soul  of  man  that  he  shall 
be  made  a good  American  and  a good  citizen  of  this 
great  country?”  Need  we  then  be  surprised,  that  with 


36 


37 


HOI-Y  ROSARY  MISSION,  SOUTH  DAKO  TA. 


a courage  and  thoroughness  typical  of  the  man,  he  has 
made  this  education  so  far  as  the  prerogatives  of  his 
exalted  office  permit,  the  underlying  principle  of  Indian 
education  ? 

The  recognition  of  God,  the  supremacy  of  the  spiritual 
part  of  man,  are  the  elemental  truths  grounding  the 
whole  fabric  of  Catholic  education.  To  these  all  others 
must  be  subsidiary,  and  of  importance  only  in  propor- 
tion as  they  contribute  to  the  enlargement  and  strength- 
ening of  the  former.  “ What  shall  it  profit  a man  if  he 
gain  the  whole  world  and  sufifer  the  loss  of  his  soul  ”(1) 
is  the  keynote  of  the  Catholic  school  teacher,  which,  in 
spite  of  its  decried  obsolescence  and  modern  repulsion, 
has  served  the  world  well  for  twenty  centuries,  and  in 
the  critical  problems  of  our  social  and  national  life  may 
yet  claim  its  title  to  surpassing  validity.  The  Catholic 
is  still  guileless  enough  to  believe  that  “ truly,  a lowly 
rustic  that  serves  God  is  better  than  a profound  philos- 
opher who  pondereth  the  course  of  the  stars  and  neglect- 
eth  himself. ”(2)  The  sight  of  toil-bowed  poverty,  de- 
voutly counting  the  fifty  beads  of  its  rosary,  discloses  to 
him  a more  elevating  moral  grandeur  than  the  vision  of 
bloated  wealth  gloating  over  its  ill-gotten  fifty  millions. 

In  this  educational  scheme,  morality  is  not  separable 
from*religion.  Morality  must  find  its  origin,  its  true 
meaning,  its  growth,  its  fruition,  in  religion.  The  ele- 
ment of  responsibility  in  morality  can  only  attain  its 
supreme  height  in  religion,  where  God  and  man  are  in 
fellowship  and  communion.  “ What  doth  knowledge 
avail  without  the  fear  of  God?” 

Again,  this  religion  must  be  dogmatic.  It  can  be 
Presbvterian,  Episcopalian,  Lutheran,  Methodist  or 
Catholic.  It  must  not  be  that  vague,  indefinite,  creedless, 

(1)  Mark  VIII,  36. 

(2)  “ Following  of  Christ,”  Book  I,  Chapter  II, 


38 


spineless,  mawkish,  unassignable  nostrum,  masquerading 
under  the  illusive  garb  and  imponderable  nomenclature 
of  non-sectarianism.  Why  not  dispense  with  the  services 
of  an  accredited  physician,  because  physiology  and 
hygiene  teach  us  the  general  principles  of  health,  how  to 
avoid  ailments  and  cure  disease?  The  teaching  must  be, 
as  it  is  in  Protestant  Germany,  with  the  most  superb  edu- 
cational system  of  the  world — definite,  dogmatic ; in 
which  all  denominations,  under  proper  governmental  re- 
strictions, will  have  the  liberty  to  propagate  their  re- 
spective doctrines  to  their  respective  church  adherents, 
and  this  without  fear  or  molestation. 

It  is  for  this  reason,  and  this  reason  alone,  that  we  are 
compelled  to  keep  up  an  enforced  condition  of  national 
alienation,  by  supporting  our  parochial  school  system, 
and  at  the  same  time  carry  the  additional  burden  of  a 
heavy  jiublic  school  taxation,  of  which  system,  without 
violence  to  our  conscience,  we  cannot  avail  ourselves, 
.^uch  being  the  case,  why  should  we  hesitate  to  contribute 
from  our  already  well-drained  resources  an  additional 
mite  to  maintain  the  Catholic  Indian  school,  which  ap- 
peals  to  us  by  every  sacred  title  of  patriotic  justice  and 
Christian  charity?  \\’e  educate  over  1,06G,207  Catholic 
pupils,  separated  from  their  11,318,256  comrades,  play- 
mates and  neighbors  of  the  public  school ; nor  do  we 
waver  to  tax  ourselves  to  the  extent  of  $21,078,912.39 
annually  to  do  this.  Should  we  put  a limit  to  our  charity 
when  the  most  helpless  beings  of  the  nation  appeal  to 
us  for  the  same  jwivilege  we  accord  our  own  flesh  and 
blood  ? 

The  Catholic  Inrlian  school  is  the  cradle  of  civilization, 
the  nursery  of  faith,  the  home  of  industry,  the  vestibule 
of  Catholicity,  the  open  door  of  self-respecting  and  self- 
supporting  citizenship. — is  it  worthy  of  our  confidence ; 
does  it  merit  our  support? 


39 


The  history  of  our  Catholic  Indian  school  system  gives 
us  the  most  compelling  claim  to  its  study,  just  as  its 
achievements  in  the  past  give  the  most  convincing  title 
to  its  existence  in  the  future.  Beginning  in  1874  with 
9 schools,  215  pupils,  a Government  allotment  of  $16,997, 
it  grew  with  such  rapidity  both  in  the  esteem  of  the 
Indian  and  the  favor  of  the  Government  that  in  1896  it 
counted  51  schools,  3,073  pupils  and  an  appropriation  of 
$314,890.  The  high-water  mark  was  attained  in  1892, 
when  the  system  counted  54  schools,  3,729  pupils  and 
an  appropriation  of  $397,756.  By  an  act  of  Congress, 
June  10,  1896,  the  law  was  enacted — be  it  remembered, 
at  the  undivided  instigation  of  the  various  church  bodies 
that  created  the  sectarian  school — “ that  it  was  the  settled 
policy  of  the  Government  to  hereafter  make  no  appropria- 
tion whatever  for  education  in  any  sectarian  school.” 
This  law  was  further  amended  (1)  until  we  found  our- 
selves with  our  splendid  school  buildings,  thorough 
equipment,  capable  teaching  personnel  and  crowded 
class  rooms,  high  and  dry,  in  penniless  destitution. 

As  a mere  matter  of  financial  investment,  which  prob- 
ably never  entered  the  minds  of  the  missionaries,  could 
we  relinquish  the  valuable  real  estate?  As  a matter  of 
duty,  the  only  criterion  consulted,  could  we  abandon  the 
children?  Let  iis  see  how  the  crisis  was  met,  and  the 
Report  shall  be  our  guide. 

The  tabulated  statistics,  admirably  arranged  and 
scrupulously  accurate,  ,give  us  probably  the  most  in- 
structive part  of  the  Report.  We  find,  to  our  surprise, 
that  the  law — which,  in  its  inspiration,  without  a breach 
of  charity  can  only  be  designated  as  iniquitou.s — instead 
of  closing  our  schools,  an  eventuality  predicted  with 
cocksure  certainty,  not  only  failed  to  do  this,  but,  what 

(1)  Acts  of  Congress,  July  7,  1897;  July  1,  1898;  March  1, 
1899. 


40 


is  more  significant,  failed  even  to  reduce  the  enrollment. 
W'e  have  the  gratifying  spectacle  of  an  attendance  under 
the  most  untoward  circumstances,  limited  only  by  the 
capacity  of  the  schools  themselves. 

We  find  44  schools,  3,338  pupils,  taught  by  353 
Sisters,  78  lay  Brothers,  84  lay  teachers,  and  38  indus- 
trial employees.  The  Sisters  belong  respectively  to  the 
following  orders : Franciscan,  96;  Ursulines,  54;  Charity 
(of  Providence),  40;  St.  Joseph’s,  37;  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment, 27  ; Benedictines,  24  ; Mercy,  15  ; St.  Agnes,  10  ; 
Xotre  Dame,  10;  Loretto,  9;  St.  Ann,  8.  The  lay 
Brothers  are  distributed  as  follows:  Jesuit,  46;  Chris- 

tian Brothers,  15;  Franciscans,  8;  Sacred  Fleart,  8; 
Benedictines,  5. 

The  Catholic  trend  of  these  schools  looms  up  in  a mis- 
sionary importance  that  can  hardly  be  overestimated, 
when  we  discover  in  the  total  enrollment  107  pagans  and 
216  Protestants,  a number  that  could  no  doubt  be  quad- 
rupled, did  it  not  mean  the  exclusion  of  those  of  the 
household  of  the  faith.  Again,  the  112  baptisms,  12,348 
communions,  are  evidence  sufficient  that  the  work  of  the 
missionaries  usually  attached  to  the  schools  do  not  con- 
fine their  ministration  exclusively  to  the  Reservation 
flock. 

I-ike  that  of  the  missions,  the  report  of  the  financial 
problem  dwindles  to  one  of  such  unimportance  and 
weakness  that,  in  its  utter  inadequacy  to  meet  the  con- 
ditions, it  places  the  Catholics  of  the  nation  in  a rather 
humiliating  light.  .-Xt  the  same  time  the  one  individual 
who  sustains  the  schools,  and  who  with  self-eflPacing 
modesty  and  conscientious  literalness  carries  out  our 
Lord’s  injunction  about  charity,  is  lifted  to  a height  of 
moral  loftiness  that  should  inspire  something  more 
tangible  and  enduring  than  mere  paroxysmal  admiration. 

The  Report  here  is  naturally  brief.  The  Lenten  col- 


41 


lection  taken  up  in  1906  for  the  Indian  and  Negro  Mis- 
sions— this  in  accordance  with  a decree  of  the  Council  of 
Baltimore,  (1)  mandatory  in  every  mission,  village  and 
city  church,  appealing  to  a population  of  fourteen 
millions,  reaching  the  most  prosperous  and  wealthy 
nation  on  earth — gave  the  Indian — the  sum  should  be 
writ  in  numerals  of  dazzling  vividness— $36,169 ! The 
membership  fees  of  the  Preservation  Society,  in  spite  of 
able  and  uninterrupted  agitation,  sinks  to  $10,429.68, 
and  all  other  contributions  to  the  Bureau  do  not  raise 
the  total  income  to  more  than  $23,401.16.  This  means 
as  a plain  business  proposition : that  for  an  enrollment 
of  pupils,  for  which  the  Government  in  1889  made  an 
allowance  of  $347,672.00,  the  Catholic  Church  in  1906 
makes  an  allowance  of  $57,570.16! 

This' anomalous  condition  points  a moral,  embarrass- 
ing on  the  one  hand  and  heroic  on  the  other.  It  exhibits 
an  apathy  on  the  part  of  Catholics  out  of  all  harmony 
with  their  proverbial  loyalty  to  the  Church.  It  reveals, 
with  the  suppression  of  parading  figures,  the  royal 
munificence  of  Mother  Katharine  Drexel. 

Probably  the  most  significant  chapter  in  the  report  is 
that  devoted  to  the  “ Religious  Instructions  of  Catholic 
Pupils  in  Government  Schools,”  and  which  will  no  doubt 
create  wide  discussion.  It  is  the  first  time  that  official 
cognizance  is  taken  of  them,  being  hitherto  classified  as 
public  schools  outside  the  purview  of  ecclesiastical  con- 
sideration. The  Government  school  is  here  to  stay,  and, 
supported  as  it  is  by  the  lavish  appropriation  of  $3,- 
010,489.16  annually,  with  an  attendance  of  20.382  chil- 
dren, has  to  be  reckoned  with.  The  system  has  grown 
to  such  proportions,  offers  such  unusual  inducements, 
is  geographically  so  available,  safeguards  the  health  of 
its  pupils  so  carefully,  solves  the  little  social  and  economic 

(1)  Tit.  VIIT,  Cap.  II,  N.  243. 


42 


problems  of  Indian  life  so  judiciously,  above  all  advances 
its  graduates  so  systematically,  that  even  did  we  have 
accommodations  for  more  pupils,  we  could  not  prevent 
many  Catholics  from  attending  its  schools.  This  attrac- 
tion is  made  all  the  more  alluring  by  the  fact  that  the 
Government  has  come  to  the  realization  that,  if  it  cannot 
teach  religion,  it  would  place  no  hindrance  in  the  way  of 
the  clergy  of  the  different  denominations  doing  so.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  drawing  up  of  such  rules  as  contained  in 
“ Education  Circular  No.  87,  Outing  Rules  to  Govern 
Indian  Students,  Rules  Regarding  Religious  Instruction 
of  Catholic  Pupils,”  all  of  which  had  their  birth  and 
were  put  in  successful  operation  at  Carlisle,  before  their 
introduction  in  the  general  system,  mark  a new  departure 
that  will  be  watched  with  interest  and  to  whose  advan- 
tages we  cannot  blind  ourselves. 

These  rules  are  broad  and  liberal,  and  leave  little  to 
be  desired.  For  Catholics  they  make  Mass  and  religious 
instruction  attendance  compulsory,  afford  ample  oppor- 
tunity for  confession  and  Holy  Communion,  allow  a 
week  for  an  annual  retreat,  prohibit  under  the  penalty 
of  dismissal  or  expulsion  all  proselyting,  forbid  a child 
to  change  its  church  relations  without  the  consent  of 
parents  and  superintendent,  protect  the  pupils’  faith 
while  living  on  the  Outing  System,  promptly  report  all 
sick  cases — in  short,  extend  every  aid  than  can  be  sug- 
gested to  religious  instructors.  These  rules  are  of 
course  free  from  all  discriminative  flavor.  They  offer 
the  same  opportunity  to  every  denomination.  The  same 
official  impartiality  marks  the  treatment  of  priest  or 
minister.  Catholic  or  Protestant. 

In  some  of  these  schools — Carlisle  again,  for  instance 
— a precedent  is  established,  which  no  doubt  will  be 
promptly  followed,  if  it  has  not  already  been  anticipated 
by  some  of  the  larger  Non-Reservation  and  Reservation 


43 


schools,  of  allowing  all  services — Mass,  sodality.  Bene- 
diction of  the  Blessed  Sacrament — to  be  conducted  in 
some  properly  appointed  hall  at  the  school  and  placing 
the  school's  vehicle  at  the  disposal  of  the  priest  and  re- 
ligious instructors. 

The  religious  opportunities  offered  to  Catholic  pupils 
are  of  a character  that  can  no  longer  be  overlooked  or 
neglected,  nor  dismissed  with  a contemptuous  shrug  of 
the  shoulder  or  a scornful  smile  of  incredulity.  Steps 
should  be  taken  without  loss  of  time  to  accept  the  gen- 
erous invitation  pf  the  Government,  with  the  same  cor- 
diality that  it  was  given.  Apostacy  can  no  longer  be 
imputed  to  the  school  authorities  where  every  facility 
to  maintain  and  strengthen  the  faith  is  given.  Vigorous 
effort,  systematized  catechetical  instruction  and  restless 
vigilance  should  be  infused  into  the  larger  schools  like 
Haskell,  Carlisle,  Chilocco,  Albuquerque,  Sherman  In- 
stitute, etc.  Where  the  appointment  of  special  chaplains 
living  outside  the  school  precincts,  but  ever  welcome  to 
enter  them,  can  be  made,  it  ought  to  be  done,  and  will 
doubtlessly  meet  with  the  approval  of  every  considerate 
superintendent  or  agent. 

The  action  of  the  Administration  has  been  so  tolerant 
and  helpful,  that  the  voice  of  cavil  should  be  silent,  and 
the  fact  appreciated  that  so  far  as  the  exercise  of  re- 
ligious duties  is  concerned,  to  employ  the  language  of 
the  street,  “ it  is  now  up  to  the  Church." 

We  would  have  the  presumption,  based  on  an  experi- 
ence of  nearly  twenty  years  with  a leading  Government 
school  and  with  some  knowledge  of  Reservation  condi- 
tions, to  suggest — that,  if  possible,  no  child  be  sent  to 
a Government  school  until  it  has  a strong  foundation 
of  its  faith  firmly  laid ; that  unusually  bright,  alert  and 
promising  pupils,  after  finishing  their  courses  in  the 
mission  school,  should  be  transferred  to  such  Govern- 


44 


45 


HOLY  ROSARY  SCHOOL,  PINE  RIDGE,  SOUTH  DAKOTA. 


nient  schools  where  their  studies  might  be  continued 
under  the  best  advantages  and  under  the  fostering  re- 
ligious safeguards  that  such  a school  may  give.  If  the 
pupil  will  not  preserve  his  faith  under  such  indirect 
church  supervision,  he  will  certainly  not  preserve  it  in 
the  world,  when  he  must  fight  the  battle  of  faith  single- 
handed.  Moreover,  we  expect  the  product  of  a mission 
school  to  be  something  more  virile  than  a callow  molly- 
coddle who  incontinently  succumbs  at  the  mere  shadow 
of  temptation  or  trial. 

Again,  we  would  have  the  further  temerity  to  suggest, 
without  pretending  to  an  uncommon  acuteness  of  mind, 
that  Government  schools,  after  courteous,  repeated  and 
ineftectual  efforts  to  gain  an  observance  of  the  Govern- 
ment rules  regarding  religion,  be  placed  by  an  exercise 
of  ecclesiastical  authority  on  a prohibitive  list.  The 
choice  of  schools  is  large  and  varied,  and  to  make  bigotry 
odious  and  pay  the  full  penalty  of  its  contumacy,  hardly 
sins  against  the  golden  rule,  especially  when  it  jeopar- 
dizes the  souls  of  our  poor  children.  A decreased  en- 
rollment and  appropriation  will  be  a more  specific  per- 
suasive than  a long  and  embittered  controversy  to  bring 
a dissident  and  refractory  official  to  terms. 

In  the  statistics  of  Catholic  children  attending  Gov- 
ernment schools,  we  find  in  the  25  Non-Reservation 
schools,  2,431  Catholic  pupils  out  of  a total  of  9,279. 
Baptisms  are  given  at  34  (of  which  24  adults  were  bap- 
tized in  Carlisle),  221  Confirmations  (Carlisle  110  to  its 
credit),  and  1,765  Holy  Communions.  In  the  91  Reser- 
vation schools  we  have,  out  of  11,103,  2,494  Catholic 
pupils,  144  Baptisms,  490  Confirmations,  and  4,582  Holy 
Communions.  Out  of  the  total  enrollment  of  Govern- 
ment Non-Reservation,  Reservation  and  day  schools  we 
have  an  enrollment  of  20,382,  of  whom  4,925  are  Cath- 
olics. The  total  number  of  Catholic  children  attending 

4f) 


mission  and  Government  schools  is  8,553,  nearly  half  the 
entire  Government  Indian  school  attendance. 

What  lessons  should  we  draw  from  the  Report? 

I.  — The  need  of  63  chapels  reveals  a severe  handicap 
and  serious  impairment  of  our  missionary  field.  Where 
the  need  of  a chapel  is  most  urgent,  the  conditions  for 
its  erection  most  favorable,  and  the  number  of  Indians 
sufficiently  large,  no  time  should  be  wasted  in  establish- 
ing it.  The  Government  will  readily  make  a gratuitous 
allotment  of  land  ; the  dififerent  Tabernacle  societies  will 
cheerfully  give  the  full  liturgical  equipment,  the  Indian, 
willing  and  ready,  will  give  his  hearty  assistance — and 
the  sum  of  one  thousand  will  erect  a serviceable,  even 
comfortable  structure.  What  diversion  of  this  sum 
could  do  more  good,  be  an  instrument  of  greater  glory 
to  God  and  productive  of  greater  spiritual  blessings, 
than  such  a votive  or  memorial  chapel,  where  the  donor 
has  the  personal  privilege  of  selecting  a patronal  saint 
or  memorializing  his  dead?  If  five  of  these  chapels 
could  be  erected  each  consecutive  year,  in  such  districts 
where  an  absolute  necessity  exists,  what  a momentum 
would  not  be  given  to  our  missions? 

II.  — The  Indian  catechist — of  whom  6i  are  called 
for — is  another  valuable  adjunct  that  dare  not  be  over- 
looked. This  vigilant,  faithful,  trustworthy  ally  of  the 
missionary,  consecrates  all  his  time  and  energy  with  a 
most  exemplary  devotion  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  the 
territory  assigned  him.  His  services  really  partake  of 
an  indispensable  character,  and  many  a poor  Catholic 
would  h.ave  died  without  the  sacraments,  many  a be- 
nighted Indian  grown  to  manhood  and  womanhood 
ignorant  of  all  religion,  but  for  the  watchful  care  and 
the  intelligent  piety  of  the  catechist.  The  remuneration 
doled  v'ut  to  him — ten  dollars  a month  (the  support  of 
his  fami’  - and  two  ponies) — seems,  from  our  modern 


47 


valuation  of  money,  trivial  to  the  point  of  contempt.  If 
we  could  add  ten  catechists  each  year,  we  would  be  hold- 
ing up  the  hands  of  our  missionaries  in  a way  that  could 
not  fail  but  bring  about  marvellous  blessings. 

What  charities  could  commend  themselves  more 
powerfully  to  those  on  the  brink  of  eternity,  ready  to 
adjust  their  temporal  accounts  for  the  final  reckoning, 
and  what  act  of  beneficence  would  presage  ? more  merci- 
ful sentence  from  the  lips  of  the  Judge,  than  a testa- 
mentary bequest  assuring  those  two  worthy  objects? 

As  long  as  you  did  it  to  one  of  these,  my  least  brethren, 
you  did  it  to  me.”(l) 

TII. — The  Catholic  Indian  school  not  only  merits,  but 
demands  our  hearty  and  generous  support.  The  annual 
collection  for  the  Indian  and  Xegro  should  be  lifted 
from  the  parochial  rut  of  perfunctory  routine  to  a deed 
of  earnest  charity,  a charity  all  the  more  persuasive  and 
binding  because  it  is  really  in  the  nature  of  national 
reparation  and  restitution.  The  collection,  with  a few 
notable  e.xceptions,  has  dwindled  to  the  character  of  an 
empty  formality  or  meets  the  reception  of  a recurrent 
infliction,  instead  of  being  an  incentive  for  devout  zeal 
and  helpful  beneficence. 

The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  Amonq 
Indian  Children  should  become  a national  organiz.iti(;n. 
with  membership  in  every  Catholic  home.  If  out  of  i.v- 
fourteen  millions  of  Catholics  in  the  nation,  only  (i"  - 
million  would  pay  the  trifling  membership  fee.  th.’  woil: 
would  be  raised  from  its  condition  of  prCv'a'-.ousne>  s. 
the  faithful  workers  in  the  field  would  be  relieved  of 
the  haunting  apprehensions  of  privation  and  the  whole 
problem  receive  a new  vitalization. 

The  Marquette  League,  which  has  already  done  con- 
spicuous work,  .should  effect  a larger  enrollment  of 

(1)  Math.  XXV.  40. 

4S 


membership,  and  by  its  appeal  to  the  wealth  and  culture 
found  in  its  rank  and  acquaintance,  bring  the  needs  of 
the  neglected  Indian  to  public  attention,  diverting  its 
work  particularly  to  the  multiplication  of  chapels,  the 
appointment  of  catechists,  (1)  and  the  vigilant  scrutiny 
of  Indian  legislation. 

IV. — The  pacific  and  liberal  overtures  of  the  Indian 
School  Department  should  be  met  without  suspicion 
or  distrust,  and  with  frankness  and  confidence.  The 
opportunities  it  offers  for  methodic  devotions  and  in- 
structions should  be  repaid  with  grateful  recognition  and 
energetic  correspondence.  What  more  could  be  done 
than  the  privileges  already  accorded?  The  proper  ad- 
mixture of  prudence,  patience  and  perseverance — espe- 
cially an  imperturbable  cultivation  of  suaviter  in  modo 
et  fortiter  in  re  will  unfailingly  bring  about  a change  of 
manners,  if  not  heart,  of  the  most  arbitrary  and  capri- 
cious agent,  or  Government  official.  The  fault  of  many 
of  the  inharmonious  relations  existing  between  priest 
and  school  superintendent  cannot  always  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  the  latter.  Let  us  be  frank  enough  to  make  the 
honest  confession,  that  in  many  instances  the  unfortunate 
friction  is  traceable  to  a lack  of  calm  discretion  and 
well-poised  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  former.  In  the  event 
of  wilful  and  persistent  breaches  of  the  Government 
school  laws,  a temperate,  dignified,  but  evidentially  un- 
assailable protest  to  the  higher  authorities  will  meet 
with  a courteous,  prompt  and  fair  adjudication.  The 
Government  Indian  school  should  no  longer  cause  the 


(1)  The  Society  for  the  Preservation  of  the  Faith  Among 
Indian  Children  has  its  central  office  at  the  Bureau  of  Catholic 
Indian  Missions,  1326  New  York  Ave.,  X.  \V.,  Washington, 
D.  C.  The  Marquette  League  is  affiliated  with  the  Bureau. 
Its  address  is : Marquette  League,  420  United  Charities  Building, 
X'ew  York.  X’.  Y. 


49 


spine-creeping  sensations  of  a charnel  house  for  slaugh- 
tered Catholic  aboriginal  innocents. 

By  every  law  of  logic  and  every  impulse  of  religion, 
the  5,000  Indian  children  attending  them  are  as  worthy 
subjects  of  our  solicitude,  as  deserving  of  all  the  care 
we  can  give  them,  and  certainly  fitter  objects  of  diligent 
attention  and  watchful  oversight,  than  the  6,93?  stu- 
dents attending  non-Catholic  colleges  and  universities, 
for  whom  every  aid  for  the  preservation  of  their  faith 
is  now  being  made. 

The  Indian  problem  is  drawing  to  a close.  As  a 
national  problem  it  remains  unsolved.  Commissioner 
Leupp,  with  no  claims  to  prophecy,  but  yielding  to  the 
stern  facts  staring  him  in  the  face,  declared  at  the  recent 
meeting  of  the  Department  of  Indian  Education  a*-  Los 
Angeles,  that  “ the  day  of  the  reservation  is  passing,  and 
the  future  of  the  Indian  lies  in  individual  effort.”  The 
abolition  of  the  Reservation  means  the  extinction  of  the 
Indian  as  a race.  It  remains  for  the  true  friend  of  the 
Indian  to  hold  this  steadily  in  view.  The  concentrated, 
perhaps  final  efforts  of  the  missionary  and  teacher  should 
be  to  prepare  and  fit  him  for  this  amalgamation  or  ab- 
sorption. Another  generation  will  close  the  last  chapter 
of  the  Indian  as  a nation. 


50 


MARQUETTE  LEAGUE 

The  main  object  of  the  ^Marquette  League  is  to  pre- 
serve the  Catholic  Indians  in  the  Lnited  States  in  their 
faith  and  to  bring  its  consolations  to  the  thousands  still 
living  in  paganism : 

(aj  Ily  making  the  support  of  our  Catholic  Indian 
Schools  the  chief  object  of  the  League's  existence: 

(b)  By  bringing  to  the  attention  of  the  Catholic  public 
through  the  medium  of  the  jtress  and  by  zealous  per- 
sonal agitation,  the  needs  of  our  Catholic  Missions  and 
Missionaries,  and  by  aiding  the  latter  in  the  establish- 
ment of  new  chapels  and  the  appointment  of  regular 
catechists. 

M.AROCETTE  LEAGL’E. 

Room  420,  United  Charities  Building. 

New  York. 

EUXDS  ARE  URGENTLY  NEEDED. 

Contributions  of  from  $10  to  $1,000  may  be  made  for 
Special  Works  in  the  Mission  Eield,  to  be  designated 
by  the  donor.  The  regular  dues  are : 

Full  Axnu.\l  Membership,  $2.00. 

Life  Membership.  $50. 

Checks,  Money  Orders,  etc.,  should  be  made  to 
Theodore  E.  T.\ck. 

Treasurer,  Marquette  League. 


.')i 


/ 


BENEFITS  TO  MEMBERS. 


The  members  of  the  League,  both  living  and  deceased, 
share  in  one  thousand  Holy  Masses  offered  every  year. 

On  the  date  of  Pere  Marquette’s  birth,  June  1 (1637), 
a special  Holy  Mass  is  offered  for  the  Executive  Officers 
and  the  Advisory  Board  of  the  League. 

On  the  date  of  his  death,  January  19  (1675),  a special 
Requiem  Mass  is  offered  for  the  repose  of  the  deceased 
members  of  the  League. 


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iKanjufttf  ICfagup 

Hnttfb  Qllfaritiffl  SutUitng 
4tlf  Aopnup  anb  22b  &trfrt 
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The  Meany  Printing  Co.,  6fli  Ave.  and  11th  St.,  New  York. 


